|
|
|
Show Your Love by Taking Action for Our Persecuted Family in Sudan
|
|
|
Imagine living in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, where you are bombed
almost daily by your own government and there’s no place to hide. Your
goal each morning is to survive through the day, and you know you must
do it with little outside help. Then you receive an encouraging gift of love from Christians in the U.S. to help you and your family endure — a VOM Action Pack. Opening the pack, you find items of clothing, a blanket for cold nights, fresh socks for your feet and soap to help you stay clean. Suddenly, you feel renewed and strengthened in faith; you realize your Christian family members have not forgotten you. You see a photo of the family who assembled the pack, and you know they are praying for you. Then you see the Bible and are reminded that Jesus loves you, too, and is always with you. VOM had planned to ship 2,000 Action Packs to Christian families in the Nuba Mountains this year, but faithful believers like you helped us send 3,454 packs instead! We were overwhelmed by your generous response, and now our workers in Sudan are asking for even more packs. When you order an Action Pack, we’ll send you a special bag to be filled with items you select from a list included with your pack. After filling the pack, you will ship it back to The Voice of the Martyrs. VOM workers will then deliver your Action Pack and a Bible or Gospel story book to a Christian family in Sudan, Pakistan, Iraq, Jordan or Lebanon.
|
|
|
|
|
Even more important than the physical aid is the Bible or Gospel
story book delivered with each pack. God’s Word strengthens our brothers
and sisters to continue living for Christ despite hardships and
persecution. If you do not want to pack an Action Pack yourself, you can sponsor one and VOM workers will purchase the items, fill the Action Pack and distribute it on your behalf. Either way, our persecuted brothers and sisters will be blessed by your generosity and reminded that they are connected to the wider body of Christ.
|
I recall the time I thought I was going to be arrested in North Korea
By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST News Service
CINCINNATI, OHIO (ANS – June 19, 2017)
-- The American student who was released last week after being held in
captivity for more than 15 months in North Korea has died, his family
says.
Otto Warmbier, 22, returned to the US last Tuesday, but it emerged he had been in a coma for a year.
The
BBC says that North Korea claimed that botulism led to the coma, but a
team of US doctors who assessed him dispute this account.
Mr.
Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for attempting to
steal a propaganda sign from a hotel, where I once stayed.
He
had suffered severe brain damage, and was medically evacuated from
North Korea on June 13, 2017, to a hospital in his home city of
Cincinnati. Ohio. It is unclear how he fell ill.
The Warmbier family has blamed his death on torture that they say he suffered in North Korea.
“It
is our sad duty to report that our son, Otto Warmbier, has completed
his journey home. Surrounded by his loving family, Otto died today at
2:20pm,” a statement from his parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier, said.
The statement said the student had been “unable to speak, unable to see and unable to react to verbal commands.”
“The
awful torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North
Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one
we experienced today,” it added.
What was medically wrong with Otto Warmbier?
His parents only discovered his medical situation in the days leading up to his release.
Shortly
before he was freed, they told the Washington Post that they had been
informed by the North Korean authorities that their son had contracted
botulism, a rare illness that causes paralysis, soon after his trial in
March 2016.
He was given a sleeping pill and had been in a coma ever since, the newspaper said.
But a team of doctors assessing him in Cincinnati said they had found “no sign of botulism” in the student.
“His neurological condition can be best described as a state of unresponsive wakefulness,” said Dr. Daniel Kanter.
Doctors also confirmed that there was no sign he had been physically abused during his detention, based on scans.
Who was he?
The
economics student from the University of Virginia was travelling in
North Korea as a tourist when he was arrested on January 2, 2016.
He
appeared emotional at a news conference a month later, in which he
tearfully confessed to trying to take the sign as a “trophy” for a US
church, adding: “The aim of my task was to harm the motivation and work
ethic of the Korean people.”
Foreign detainees in North Korea have previously recanted confessions, saying they were made under pressure.
North Korea said it had released Mr. Warmbier “on humanitarian grounds.”
The time that I thought that I was going to be arrested in North Korea
After
hearing the sad news today, memories came flooding back to me of the
time I was “bugged” in North Korea’s largest hotel, and constantly
peppered with questions by “minders” as I traveled around the world’s
most secretive country. I even thought I could be arrested at any moment
because of my reporting activities while I was there.
I
had joined a small delegation of Christians, led by Dr. David Cho, a
Korean pastor who had formed an unlikely friendship with Kim Il-sung,
the country’s despotic leader, having known his Christian mother. Cho
had been invited to bring in another a delegation, of which I was to be a
part. But then “Great Leader” died and it seemed that the trip would
not occur. But then, and after the lavish state funeral, we were told
that the trip was on again, and we became the first group to enter the
country following his death.
I
had not expected to be staying in such a huge hotel when I arrived in
Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital city, on the first day of my trip. It
was the twin-towered Koryo Hotel, which at 469 feet, is one of the
tallest buildings in Pyongyang. In fact, it is a major landmark there.
Only
three of us -- Dr. Cho, Michael Little from CBN and myself -- were
initially granted visas, and then Dr. Charles Wickman, a then board
member of ASSIST, was able to join us shortly afterwards.
When
we arrived at the huge and impressive Koryo Hotel and were checking in,
I noticed a crack in a nearby door and saw some men wearing headphones
with tape machines whiriing, apparently listening to visitors on
concealed miniature microphones in order to monitor and/or record
people’s conversations.
Immediately,
I was alerted the team that our rooms, telephones, and the places where
we would eat, almost certainly had bugs planted. To add to the surreal
atmosphere in the lobby, there was an auto-piano playing hits from the
Beatles, and “All you need is love,” was the first song that we heard.
Before
I had entered North Korea, I had called Bill Clough, the then UPI Radio
Network’s Religion Editor in Washington, DC, and he immediately said,
“Dan, if you get into the country, please do a daily story for us.” (I
had been doing a weekly commentary for the UPI Radio Network for several
years about religious persecution, and that’s how we knew each other.)
Clough
said that each story would be recorded over the phone by a colleague in
Beijing who would call my room, record my story, and then forward it
onto him. When I mentioned the possibility of the North Koreans
listening into my stories from the hotel room’s phone, he said, “I've
got a solution. When he calls you, just say, 'Say hello to Bill's mother
in Amarillo,” which would alert our UPI man not to ask questions, but
just record my piece. Fortunately, he did just that, and my stories got
stronger each day, mainly because, hopefully, I thought I would soon be
able to safely leave the country.
During
meal-times, even though there were only about 10 guests in the entire
hotel, we were ushered each time to the same table in the massive
restaurant. We all noticed that there was a flower pot on it, in which,
we assumed, was hidden a microphone. So, we kept our mealtime
discussions down to a minimum.
Each
day, during that week, we would be ferried around the country to places
like the DMZ, a film studio, the home of a North Korean family, who
extolled how wonderful it was to live in such a “paradise” as North
Korea, and during each trip, a “minder” would sit next to us and pepper
us with questions about life in America, and what we thought of its
leaders.
Then,
each morning, a call would come into my room from the UPI man in
Beijing, and as I was convinced I was being listened to and recorded, I
would say the code words about Bill’s mother in Amarillo, and then read
my story that my colleague would record and then send onto Bill Clough.
As
the week progressed, my stories became more critical of the North
Korean regime, and I would then leave my room for breakfast, and look
around in case I was arrested for what I had just been saying.
One
day, I even recounted the story of visiting a film studio that was
resplendent with the sayings of Kim Jong-il, the new leader of the
country, and the son of Kim Jong-Il. When I asked my “minder” what one
of them said, he replied, “The ‘Dear Leader’ says, ‘When you turn on
your movie camera, don’t forget to put some film in it.’” I had problems
holding back my laughter, especially as my “minder” thought what he had
said was quite profound.
Another
day, I recounted our trip to a North Korean church, which we never
found out if it was a real one, or whether the pastor and congregation
were actors, all playing a role for their visitors, in a bid to show
that there was religious freedom in North Korea.
I
also talked about our visit to the DMZ, where we were told that America
“started the Korean War”, and we were then shown round a museum full of
horrific pictures of atrocities that our guide claimed were committed
by American soldiers.
After
a week of wondering if I would get a tap on my shoulder in the very
hotel where Otto Warmbier was later arrested, and I would be
incarcerated and put on trial for my critical broadcasts, we packed our
bags and were ferried back to Pyongyang Airport, and soon we were
winging our way back to Beijing -- and relative safety.
It
was certainly a trip to remember and, looking back, I realize that I
was skating on thin ice with some of my broadcasts. I had prayed a lot
for protection during that week, and when I finally arrived back on
American soil, and was reunited with my wife, Norma, I thanked God for
protecting me, despite myself, from a brutal regime.
Otto Warmbier was not so fortunate!
Note: If you would like to interview Dan Wooding about the above story, please send him an e-mail at assistnews@aol.com with details of which media outlet you represent.
Photo
captions: 1) Otto Warmbier bows before the court in Noth Korea. 2) Otto
in brought before the media in North Korea. 3) Fred Warmbier speaking
at a press conference on his son’s return. 4) The twin-towered Koryo
Hotel where Dan stayed. 5) Michael Little and Dan Wooding with a North
Korea guide at the DMZ. 6) Dan Wooding with some of the team members in a
North Korea “church”.7) Dr. David Cho and Dan Wooding in North Korea.
About
the writer: Dan Wooding, 76, is an award-winning journalist who was
born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, Alfred and Anne Wooding
from Liverpool, now living in Southern California with his wife Norma,
to whom he has been married for 54 years. They have two sons, Andrew and
Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He has a radio
show and TV shows all based in Southern California, and has also
authored some 45 books, and is one of the few Christian journalists to
ever be allowed to report from inside of North Korea.
Note: If you would like to help support the ASSIST News Service, please go to www.assistnews.net and click on the DONATE TO ASSIST NEWS
button to make you tax-deductible gift (in the US), which will help us
continue to bring you stories like this one. You can also make out a
check to ASSIST and mail it to PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609, USA.
** You may republish this and any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net).
Please also tell your friends and colleagues that they can receive a
complimentary subscription to our news service by going to the above ANS
website, and signing up there.
